Taliam West
Taliam West is an OC, from an Earth where magic is real and very, very dangerous. Hunters (such as herself) are charged with finding and taking out witches that would hurt innocents if left unchecked. Even in Bete Noire, she plans to take this charge seriously, though who knows if she'll be able to differentiate between good and evil, especially when she already has a nasty streak about a mile wide... About Her Taliam's not entirely sure where her heritage lies, but it's left her with tanned skin, thick dark hair and brown eyes. She's average weight, perhaps slightly heavier if only because while she may be a little short, she's very curvaceous. She's pretty, but constantly scowling, so her beauty has more of an intense, "don't fuck with me" edge than is typically found to be attractive. Personality Taliam has so many sides to her personality that most days, she doesn't even know how to describe herself. It doesn't help that she went from damaged child to cold-blooded killer in nearly an instant, and while it was a good thing that she fell in with people who eventually came to care for her, it just added another layer of protectiveness that, in all honesty, makes her even more violent under certain conditions. She never had love, care and protection as a child, so she never learned to deal with a proper balance between showing mutual care and making sure she doesn't damage someone in the process. She's like the schoolyard bully with a posse - you pick on someone in her posse, she will find you and end you. She is very capable of making friends on her own, she just never sees the need to and therefore waits until others reach out to her instead. Her social skills set only involves 1) dealing with crazy/annoying people, 2) not taking crap from anyone, 3) keeping quiet unless asked for her opinion, and 4) when asked for her opinion, using the least amount of tact necessary. This very firmly puts her in the "bitch" category according to most people's standards. She'd rather talk with her fists, or with a scowl, or maybe even an "are you retarded?" look. Mostly, it means that people will leave her alone, and she's perfectly fine with that. On the job, she's just as mean, but she's far more focused about it. Her hatred for her own kind is enough of a driving force to make her do what she does, but the rush of the hunt and the feeling that she's making a difference makes her do her job well. She wouldn't call herself goal-oriented, since the end result is the same no matter what: the witch dies. She does, however, get extremely antsy if a wrench gets thrown into whatever plan she's concocted for the job. Her anger at being "played," "dodged" or "deceived" (even if that's not the case, she often feels like it is) can blind her and cause her to rush in for a sloppier finish than she'd like. It usually takes someone else's presence to make her calm down and think things through. If it's clear she's won, often she likes to gloat about it. She's been known to taunt her targets before killing them off. Rumor has it she's molested a few. She hasn't, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been tempted by it either. She holds herself to a standard about it, and refuses to let herself touch. (Though she can look all she wants, and there's something sexy about a pretty little witch begging for her life sometimes...) She just doesn't care to quell that rumor, either. In general, she thinks that people will believe whatever they want to believe, no matter what you have to say. It's another reason she doesn't speak out. Sexual Attitude/Preference Taliam treats sex quite liberally. She would classify herself as bisexual with a female preference, but that doesn't stop her from being with people of all types. Sex and love, in her eyes, are two very different things, especially seeing as she has no need for love but very much enjoys sex. She is not above using sex appeal (or sex at all, really) to get what she wants if that's what it boils down to, but she will make sure she's tried everything else first. She even gets a kick out of it for her own sake, in a way. It amuses her that people can give into wants like that, and that includes being amused at herself when she falls for it, too. Powers Taliam has what's known in her world as darkcraft, which means she has the ability to use others' powers against them. For instance, if someone were able to create fireballs and throw them at her, she would be hit with the first fireball, but she could redirect any following fireballs back at the caster. If someone reads her mind, she'll be able to read theirs in return. And, because she's a witch, Taliam is also capable of witchcraft. But, because she doesn't have much magic to her own name (she uses other people's -- see above), she's not capable of very strong witchcraft, just a spell here or there. She also has to have the full incantation, meaning it will probably be restricted to spells from her own world that she just happens to remember the incantations for. (Protip: that's not very many) As far as weaponry goes, she owns a few knives, but her weapon of choice is her crossbow. More specifics soon. I need to clean that up anyhow. Character History Taliam was born to a family of witches, and unstable ones at that. Her mother was very psychologically disturbed, and her father was ruthlessly violent. Unfortunately, her parents took their woes and frustrations out on Taliam and her little brother. The day Taliam discovered her own powers was the day she killed her parents. She saw her father, who could conjure fire, burn her brother until he passed out from the intense pain (he probably died right then, but Taliam doesn't know for sure). When he turned the flames on her, she used her darkcraft to turn the flames right back on him, and far more intense than what he'd done to his own son. When the mother found her husband dead, she tried to strangle Taliam in a blind rage. Taliam grabbed a knife from the kitchen and ran her through with it. She then ran away from home. She was fifteen. Even though she knew she was a witch, she couldn't bring herself to seek out others of her kind and join forces with them due to all the hatred she harbored concerning her parents. In fact, she took the complete opposite route and became a witch hunter, actively seeking out other witches who would do harm to other people and putting an immediate end to them. She worked alone, taking jobs whenever she heard any sort of word. Eventually, she was noticed by a man named Ben, a higher-up who made it a point to find her and offer her a place in his own little... hunting company, of sorts. She was reluctant at first, but after meeting the other team members, accepted. Taliam was eventually partnered with a girl named Melia Ryan, who at first was nothing more than an annoyance and a liability. As they grew closer to each other, and discovered both of them were trying to use the other to their own advantage, the girls came to a sort of unspoken neutrality in which they essentially just did their jobs and didn't speak otherwise. ... Eventually, somehow, they became best friends. And somehow, they still are. Even after Taliam came clean about being a witch, Melia stood by her, and so did everyone else in the group. When Taliam was nineteen, Melia and she split from the others and formed their own little company, similar to the setup Ben had going (with Melia in Ben's position, aka the one handing out jobs instead of doing them). Life was relatively normal for a bit. Taliam began to question the whole "killing her own kind" bit, naturally, but that came to a firm stop after a very particular mission. A witch got a hold of Melia and warped her mind until it snapped, causing her to go absolutely batshit insane (and that's putting it lightly). Taliam found the witch, killed her and brought Melia back home, even though Melia was so far gone that she was firing round after round of bullets at her. Taliam and Ben worked together to find a sort-of cure for Melia, but it was only that, sort of a cure. Melia got better, but was still sort of broken. Taliam has vowed to find a way to properly "fix" Melia, especially since they have to re-cast their semi-cure every so often when she snaps again. She will also never again question whether or not she should be killing witches despite the fact that she is one. About Her Earth Taliam's world is Earth, present day, as we know and love it. The only major exception is that magic exists. There are two types of magic: self-magic, wherein whatever you do only affects yourself (say, improved healing or setting yourself on fire); and witchcraft, wherein whatever you do directly affects other people or things (setting someone ELSE on fire). Normal people don't know any of this exists. It's all kept extremely on the down-low. Self-magic is considered okay in every way, shape or form. Hell, even some non-magically-inclined people have managed some self-magic just through experimenting around with stuff and figuring out exactly how to go about it, what to say, the timing... etc. It's rare, but it has happened. Witchcraft, however, can be trickier, especially since some people with witchcraft are driven crazy by the power and eventually turn murderous, torturous... yeah, it can get pretty nasty. There are people known as hunters who are sent to kill witches who have gone nutso, but unfortunately, some hunters believe that there is no such thing as a good witch, and that can get just as out-of-hand as bad witches themselves... It's a convoluted mess, really, but at least these days there are fewer "shoot-first-ask-later" hunters. Unfortunately, there's been a steady rise of evil witches since the turn of the millennium, and no one's quite sure why. Relationships In-Game Lance Blackthorn - Nearly got her ass handed to her by his Aerodactyl, but they... sort of civilly handled it. She'd rather not have to see him again. Or the dragon. Sergeant Doyle - She would rather like to find him, wait for him to make a "joke," punch him in the face, and then walk off without explaining herself. Zachary Finch - One of the first to tell her what's going on. She doesn't know if she's amused by his general attitude on life, or more aggravated by his nice guy status. We'll see. Ben O'Farrell - Thinks he's an okay guy, one of the more tolerable people she's met so far anyway. Kara Thrace - She appreciated Kara's no-nonsense, lack-of-bullshit way of explaining the situation. A lot. They didn't exchange names, though. Back Home Melia Ryan - Her best friend, and "boss" of sorts. Taliam will put a bullet or a crossbow bolt (or maybe even a knife...) through the skull of anyone who touches her. Ben Johnson - Former boss, now more of a friendly business rival thing going on. Lionel Fitzpatrick - Friend with... well, any possible benefit you can think of. We're not sure why it works. We're not asking, either. Catherine Harris - She doesn't like her. No one does. The end.